


Visitors

by wilddragonflying



Series: Fallout Fic [8]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3, Fallout 4
Genre: F/M, Multi, Ruby comes for a visit!, talking about some violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 01:15:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17478515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wilddragonflying/pseuds/wilddragonflying
Summary: MacCready gets some visitors from the Capital Wasteland! Ruby © @red-flare





	Visitors

“Kaili!”

Kaili laughs as she spots MacCready jogging towards her and Preston. “Mac! Miss me that much?” She and Macready pull each other into a hug, laughing.

“Yeah, but I’ve got another reason for being excited,” he says, gesturing over his shoulder, deeper into the renovated Sanctuary. “Got some guests you’re gonna like.”

Now Kaili’s intrigued. “Guests?”

MacCready grins. “Follow me.” Kaili and Preston share a look before doing so. Macready leads then to the center of Sanctuary, and Kaili gives Pipsqueak an absent pat as they pass; she’ll give the deathclaw more attention later, after she’s met these guests. Kaili’s former house has been renovated into a meeting hall of sorts, and that is where MacCready leads them. “Kaili, Preston,” he says as he pushes open the door, his grin evident from the tone of his voice, “I’d like you to meet Ruby and Charon, two of my friends from the Capital.”

The ghoul-and Christ he makes an imposing figure, standing over six feet tall and built like a brick shithouse-snorts. “You and Ruby are friends” he appears to remind Macready, who makes a face. “I always thought you were a pain in my ass.”

“Ignore him,“ the red-headed woman next to him laughs. “He was just as excited to see you as I am.” She turns to Kaili then, a friendly smile on her face. “I’m Ruby,” she says by way of introduction, and Kaili pastes on her ‘General’ smile as she holds out a had to shake.

“Kaili Swesson, General of the Minutemen, and my right hand, Preston Garvey,” she says as Ruby takes her hand in a firm grip, doing the same to Preston when he stick out his own hand.

"Didn’t know Mac had friends coming,” Preston says amiably.

“To be fair, he didn’t either,” Ruby grins. “Heard from a caravan that there was a man named MacCready sending money and supplies down to the Capital, decided to come see if it was the same MacCready we knew.”

“Got us into a lot of trouble along the way,” the ghoul-who most be Charon - grumbles.

Ruby just grins. “You would have been bored out of you mind, otherwise.” she teases. Charon rolls his eyes, but doesn’t comment.

“So you’re just here to visit Macready?” Kaili asks curiously.

“And see about maybe helping out around here, Maybe drop by the Brotherhood’s zeppelin,” Ruby confirms. “Was kind of running out of things to do down south. Also heard Maxson became Elder, want to see if it’s true.”

Kaili shifts her weight, fidgeting under the amused looks both Preston and Macready are giving her. “Ah, if you’re talking about Arthur Maxson, then yes, that’s the Elder currently in the Prydwen.”

“Kaili and Maxson are…  _intimately_  acquainted,” MacCready snickers. Kaili gives Preston a pleading look and he rolls his eyes before elbowing MacCready hard enough to make the other man wince.

Charon raises an eyebrow while Ruby grins. “There’s a story there, isn’t there?” she guesses.

Kaili sighs, resigned. “We had an argument that got… very physical.” Kaili gestures to the coat she’s wearing. “This was his, just with a Brotherhood patch. I charged it to a Minutemen one after sneaking out of his quarters.”

Ruby laughs as the implications hit her, and even Charon cracks a smile. “Well, that does look like a very nice coat,” she snickers, and Kaili can’t help but laugh as well.

“It is,” she confirms. “Very warm, and offers a good amount of protection and makes me look even more intimidating.”

“Not that you need it,” MacCready laughs. “I’ve seen Raiders run away pissing themselves when they catch sight of her in their scopes.”

Kaili shrugs, cheeks hot. “Have you been shown around Sanctuary yet?” she asks in a not-too-subtle attempt at changing the subject, ignoring the fond look Preston’s giving her.

“Well, no,” Ruby says slowly. “We ah, haven’t gone out on account of the ground shaking in a very suspicious way.”

It takes Kaili a moment, then she grins. “Oh, that’d be Pipsqueak and Larry,” she tells the newcomers. “Pipsquak’s the albino alpha, and Larry is the chameleon. They’re both harmless, so long as you don’t threaten anyone in Sanctuary.”

“They’re  _deathclaws,_ ” Charon says slowly, as though speaking to a child.

Kaili raises an eyebrow. “Yes, I realize that. However, apparently deathclaws imprint, because I was there when Pipsqueak hatched, and that’s exactly what happened. And then when she had her own egg, I was there when that one hatched, and Larry imprinted on me. I realize this is very unusual, but I can assure you: Don’t threaten any citizen of Sanctuary, and neither of them will bother you.”

Neither Ruby nor Charon looks terribly reassured, but Kaili really doesn’t have any other words to attempt to use to put their minds at ease, so she doesn’t try. An awkward silence reigns for a moment before Preston breaks it. “Well, Kaili and I just got back from wiping out some super mutants,” he says. “We were headed to the commons, why don’t you two come with us? We’ll show you around Sanctuary, introduce you to some people, and talk about heading out to rustle up some trouble.”

Ruby and Charon exchange a glance, talking without words in a way that Kaili recognizes as that language long -time couples develop, and she can’t help a glance at Preston, seeing that he’s recognized it as well. He’s looking at the two with a soft expression, and Kaili can’t help her smile. Her attention is drawn back to their guests, however, when Charon says, “That sounds nice.”

“You don’t say much, do you?” Kaili asks with a grin. “Come on, then; follow us.”

* * *

Introductions are the easier part, and Ruby and Charon are suitably impressed by the wall that surrounds all of Sanctuary, as well as the extent of the construction that’s been completed inside of the wall. Every house has been rebuilt and expanded upon, and what used to be the playground is now the farmland, and the two houses that were too degraded to be rebuilt at the western end of Sanctuary, in the cul de sac by the large tree, had been torn down; in their place is the commons, the gathering area for the citizens of Sanctuary and including a bar, several campfires, and plenty of comfortable seating. Kaili and Preston take seats at the edge, anticipating what happens next: As soon as they’re settled, Pipsqueak and Larry appear seemingly from thin air, pushing and shoving at each other until Kaili gives a sharp whistle, catching their attention. Once they realize there’s enough room for one at each side, mother and son settle down, laying next to Kaili, close enough that - even though she’s had Pipsqueak for a couple of years and Larry for one - adrenaline still floods her for a split second, kicking her heart rate into high gear for a moment. She takes a deep breath as usual, reminding herself that she knows these deathclaws, and then reaches out and starts doling out the required skritches. Pipsqueak prefers hers along the underside of her jaw, while Larry likes to be vigorously scratched along the edge of his horns where they connect to his skull.

Charon is eyeing her like she’s lost her mind, but Ruby mostly looks intrigued. “So they really are tame?” she asks.

“In a manner of speaking,” Kaili answers. “They’ve got the instincts of wild deathclaws - should’ve seen Pipsqueak tear into the Mirelurks at the Castle when we took it back for the Minutemen - but because she wasn’t raised by them, those instincts are… Directed differently, I guess. Most adult deathclaws are solitary, but males will often raise young for the first few months of life, mostly just making sure they know the basics, near as I can tell.”

“You’ve spent time with wild deathclaws?” Ruby interrupts, eyes wide.

Kaili shrugs. “Stay far enough away, they usually won’t mess with you,” she answers. “General rule of thumb. Some things, like Yao Guai and radscorpions, they’ll bite you soon as they catch your scent, but deathclaws don’t seem to care unless you get too close or you shoot first. I had some time on my hands, followed a couple of families, made some observations - and saw Raiders kill the male guarding Pipsqueak’s egg. I knew enough to know it had been incubated, was nearly ready to hatch, so I sniped them all and hauled ass to the egg, watched over it. Idiots would have tried to take it, probably to sell to that stuck up Mr. Handy in the stands in Diamond City, and it would’ve hatched on them halfway there.”

“So you made sure you’d be there instead,” Ruby surmises, and Kaili shrugged.

“Alternative would’ve been leaving the poor thing to its own devices, and no way would it have survived. Especially not being an albino. So it hatched, and I’d had suspicions that they imprinted, and that was confirmed when she started following me around without any bribery. Brought her back here, raised her, and she’s stuck around, except for when she’s gone off to mate. Only had one viable egg so far, and that’s Larry.”

“So, she just hangs around here?” Charon asks, still eyeing the pair of overgrown mutated geckos warily.

“Well, yeah. Helps defend against raiders, occasionally goes out and brings back prey. Only time she’s left was when we went to the Castle, and she only tagged along because most of Sanctuary went to help fight.” Kaili rubs her fingers gently over a rough patch of skin, devoid of scales. “Got this from the Mirelurk Queen’s acid. Hancock likes to joke that we’re like mother, like daughter.” She gestures to the patch on her neck where she’d gotten splashed with acid as well, bleaching her skin and leaving it pockmarked as well.

“Hancock?” Ruby prompts.

“Mayor of Goodneighbor,” Kaili answers.

“And our partner,” Preston adds.

At Ruby and Charon’s confused looks, Kaili elaborates, “I started a thing with Hancock, fell in love with him and him with me, then we both fell in love with Preston who fell in love with us - that was a messy few weeks while we were trying to sort out who loved who and what we were going to do about it. So the three of us are together, but - ”

“But Kaili has a thing on the side with a former Raider, name of Porter Gage,” Preston finishes, and Kaili gives him a reproachful look.

“But Kaili is also dating a former Raider,” she corrects, and Preston tilts his head, conceding.

“Sounds… messy,” Charon comments, and Kaili chuckles.

“It was, but it’s worth it. I’ve always been of the opinion that so long as everyone involved knows what’s going on and consents, and no one’s getting hurt, then who the fuck cares what other people think? It’s not their business, anyway.”

“Where are Hancock and Gage, anyway?” Preston asks, glancing at Kaili, who shrugs.

“Hancock’s probably in Goodneighbor, and I think Gage said something about scouting out some Gunner camps near the co-op. He’s probably heard over Radio Freedom that we’re back, though, so he’ll probably be back by tonight.”

Preston makes a face. “Long as I don’t wake up spooning him again, then he can stay with us.”

Kaili laughs, patting Pipsqueak in apology when the deathclaw grumbles, annoyed with Kaili’s distraction. “Well, that’s a problem for later,” she says with a grin, turning back to Ruby and Charon. “You guys said you were looking to help out around here?”

Ruby nods. “We’ve done pretty much everything there is to do in the Capital, wanted to see if there was something new to do here.”

“Well, we’ve got a couple of Vaults we haven’t gotten around to clearing out, including one over in Malden we’re pretty sure is full of Gunners,” Kaili says thoughtfully. “There’s also a few feral nests that need to be cleared out, same with some super mutant hives. Raiders aren’t much of a problem anymore, now that the Minutemen are back at full strength, but there’s always the odd group.”

“Long as the Vault ain’t full of Mirelurks, I’m in,” Charon says gruffly; he and Ruby share a look that suggests there’s a story behind his words, but Kaili doesn’t pry, only grins.

“Well, if you two want to visit the Prydwen, catch up with the Brotherhood - who, fair warning, I think are racist, elitist dicks, despite the fact that I’m a Paladin there - we can work our way east, explore a bit, wreak some havoc on people who deserve it?”

Ruby looks delighted at the prospect. “Bring it on.”


End file.
